Israel war in the live ticker
+++ 02:04 Guterres warns: Middle East “on the edge of the abyss” +++
October 16, 2023, 12:10 a.m
UN Secretary General António Guterres is demanding that Hamas immediately release all hostages and that Israel allow aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip. The Middle East is “on the edge of the abyss.” The Gaza Strip was “running out of water, electricity and other essential goods,” explains Guterres. The UN has stocks of food, water, medical supplies and fuel in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel that could be sent “within hours.” However, UN personnel must be “able” to bring these supplies safely and without disruption to the Gaza Strip and distribute them throughout the Palestinian territory.
+++ 01:26 Israel hatred: Anti-Semitism commissioner wants to tighten sedition laws +++
The Federal Government’s Anti-Semitism Commissioner, Felix Klein, is calling for criminal law to be tightened in order to combat hatred and hate speech more effectively. “Against the background of the reactions in Germany to Hamas’ terror in Israel, the police and judiciary must be put in an even better position to get threats from the Islamist environment under control,” Klein told the newspapers of the Funke media group. He therefore considers a change to the incitement paragraph in the criminal code to be necessary. In practice, there are often difficulties in application: “In the past, there have been many discontinuations of investigations that were met with a lack of understanding among those affected and the public,” said Klein. The paragraph should be applied in the future without having to establish that the public peace was disturbed by the incitement to hatred, as was the case previously.
+++ 00:46 Baerbock: So far no contact with hostages in the Gaza Strip +++
According to Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the federal government has so far had “no direct contact” with the German hostages held in the Gaza Strip. “That was one of the main topics during my visit to Israel and also during my subsequent visit to Egypt,” said the Green politician in the ARD program “Anne Will”. One of the federal government’s goals is to get signs of life. She therefore also turned to the Emir of Qatar because the country, like Turkey, has channels to the Hamas leadership.
+++ 00:31 Thousands at pro-Palestinian protest in Amsterdam +++
Thousands of people take part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Amsterdam. The demonstrators wave Palestinian flags in a central square in the Dutch capital and carry posters with slogans such as “Free Palestine”, “End the war”, but also against “Zionist propaganda” and “War crimes in Gaza”. The protest march, which is accompanied by many police officers, was actually supposed to end in the former Jewish quarter of the Old Town. However, to avoid confrontations, the route must be changed.
+++ 00:23 “No budget limit”: Israel wants to provide enough money to fight Hamas +++
According to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s fight against Hamas will not fail because of money. The economy is strong and all combat operations can be financed, he said. “I have given an unambiguous instruction that there is no budget limit.” This applies to the military, the security services and the support of the victims of the radical Islamic Hamas militia. The priorities in the 2023 and 2024 budgets would be changed accordingly. Central Bank Chairman Amir Jaron says the financial impact is manageable because Israel is entering the renewed conflict with solid finances. The economy is currently strong and stable. She has been able to recover from difficult phases in the past.
+++ 23:59 Civil defense speaks of 1000 buried in the Gaza Strip +++
According to Palestinian reports, more than 1,000 people were buried under rubble in the Gaza Strip in the counterattacks by the Israeli army following the terrorist attacks by the Islamist Hamas. The civil defense in the Gaza Strip said this included injured and dead people. Many were still rescued alive from under destroyed buildings 24 hours after bombing raids. The Israeli army called on the population in the northern Gaza Strip to leave the area on Friday.
+++ 23:30 Abbas: Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people +++
According to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the actions and policies of the radical Islamic Hamas do not represent all Palestinians. In a phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Abbas also stated that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was the “only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” reports the official Wafa news agency. Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007. It and Abbas’ Fatah, based in the West Bank, are bitter rivals.
+++ 23:14 Army spokesman: Weather not the reason for postponing the ground offensive +++
According to an Israeli army spokesman, unfavorable weather is not the reason for the postponement of the ground offensive against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “No, absolutely not,” says Arye Sharuz Shalicar, one of the Israeli army’s spokespersons, on the ARD program “Anne Will.” The point is rather that even more Palestinian civilians should reach the south of the Gaza Strip so that they are not put in danger in the event of a ground offensive in the north of the coastal strip. The New York Times reported that the ground offensive was actually planned for this weekend, but was then postponed due to cloudy skies and the resulting poor visibility for pilots and drones.
+++ 22:41 US Secretary of State: Arab allies want to prevent escalation in the Middle East +++
According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the US’s Arab allies want to prevent a further escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas. “In every country I have visited, there is determination to ensure that the conflict does not escalate,” Blinken said in the Egyptian capital Cairo. “No one should add fuel to the fire elsewhere.” This assessment is shared by the US’s Arab allies. They therefore want to “use their own relationships to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen.” The US Secretary of State visited several countries in the region in recent days, including Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. He wants to travel to Israel again on Monday.
+++ 22:22 Tehran: Only take military action if Israel attacks +++
According to its own statement, the government in Tehran would only take military action against Israel if the country attacked “Iran, its interests and citizens.” “The resistance front can defend itself,” the Reuters news agency learns from the Iranian UN mission at the UN headquarters in New York.
+++ 22:05 UN mission in Lebanon reports rocket impact in headquarters +++
The UNIFIL headquarters in Nakura, southern Lebanon, was hit by a rocket during fighting on the Israeli-Lebanese border. The UN peacekeeping mission said that although no one was in shelters, no one was injured. It is still unclear who fired the rocket. UNIFIL has not yet provided any information about the damage to the headquarters. The peacekeepers continued to work with actors on both sides to calm the situation, it is said. Despite the efforts, the escalation is currently continuing. Attacks on civilians and UN personnel constitute violations of international law, emphasizes UNIFIL.
You can read the events of the previous day here.